Stages of Love Bruce and Wally Style
by AmetheSecond
Summary: Bruce finally sees Wally in a new light and decides to do something about his attraction.  A short story written with the five stages of love in mind.  Slash.  Bruce WayneWally West.


**Stages of Love Bruce and Wally Style **

Author's Notes: This is a series of five ficlets going through the five stages of love: Attraction, Romance, Passion, Intimacy and Commitment. This one centers around Bruce Wayne and Wally West, or Batman and Flash. Beta'd by the lovely Kitty Poker1 on live journal. I wrote this story almost two years ago for the live journal community of Stages of Love, as part of a back up pairing to another story, Ordinary Heroes, and decided to put it up here on I do not own Flash or Batman, DC Comics has the honor of that. I'm just borrowing them for a bit. Good Vibrations is the third part of this little story, and can be found on my website, the link is in my bio. It's a bit too graphic for this site and has been edited out.

**The First Step **

He had always been attracted to strong people, Talia and Selina being just two of them. By necessity, his personality had to be rather...forceful. Assertive.

Frightening.

It was always refreshing when someone wasn't intimidated by his personality; it always made Bruce sit up and take notice. The people who saw behind both the Batman mask and the playboy one and tried to find the real person inside. Many times that had meant he was attracted to the wrong person. He had tried it with Selina but they had too much of a past as adversaries to work as lovers. They were friends and he trusted her to watch over the East End. That did mean something but wasn't enough to base a relationship on. They were too similar.

Talia was a subject best left alone. There'd been days when he had been convinced that she was his perfect match in nearly every way. Strength, determination, commitment to a cause. The problem with her was the fact that she was more committed to her megalomaniac of a father than she had ever been to him. No, Talia was best left in the past, or on the opposite side of the planet.

This time it was different. Oh, it wasn't the fact that the person he was attracted to was male; despite his reputation as a ladies' man in the press, his own personal tastes ran more to strength of character and personality than what was, as Flash would say, under the hood.

And it wasn't the first time he'd been attracted to someone in the Justice League either. He and Diana had danced around each other for some time, until she decided she didn't care for some of his darker personality traits. But Flash, Wally, either ignored them or was amused by them. He was different. At times Batman had intimidated nearly ever member of the League by sheer force of will, including Superman. It wasn't much sometimes, only a flinch, but he could see it and knew he'd managed to scare one of the strongest beings on the planet.

Not that he enjoyed that. Much.

Wally was different. For one thing, while Batman could back him down, he never stayed intimidated. Five minutes later he'd be back, his momentary fear of Batman forgotten as ancient history. Others saw him as a kid or a slacker and, to tell the truth, Bruce had thought of him that way at first. That was until he realized that, as a speedster, Wally would get bored easily and could then be distracted by just about anything.

Once Batman had taken that into account, Bruce looked at Wally in a whole new light. He was an accomplished mechanic as well, and on more than one occasion had given Bruce ideas for the Batmobile.

All of these thoughts led to only one conclusion. Bruce finally had to admit it to himself: he was attracted to Wally. Now he just had to do something about it.

**Date Night**

When Bruce Wayne, playboy and philanthropist, set out to woo one of Gotham's high society ladies, he knew just what to do. Actually, he asked Alfred, who had it down to a science. A hundred roses delivered to the lady's work, fine chocolates, diamond bracelets. There would be tickets to the opera or one of the various charity functions that Gothamites loved to throw in an effort to forget that there were people so poor they were willing to sell their bodies for a little food. Or their next fix.

But romancing Wally, or any male for that matter, was different. Flowers and candy weren't exactly great ice breakers. And especially since this wasn't the playboy trying to impress, this was Bruce. Wally knew exactly who he was, and any gestures that were not genuine would at best be ignored and, at worst, made fun of in a public manner, something Bruce was loath to happen. It was hard enough for him to open up to one person, but to have the entire League know his business would be unbearable.

"May I offer a suggestion, sir?"

Bruce turned away from the library windows to find Alfred standing behind him. He'd long ago stopped being shocked at his manservant's abilities to not only know what was on his mind, but to be the one person who could sneak up on the Batman.

Bruce felt his mouth twitch in a smile. "Why not?" What he didn't say was that he couldn't do any worse on his own. He did have his pride.

From his jacket pocket, Alfred pulled out an envelope. "This weekend is the annual auto show, and Wayne Industrial has a new sports car being unveiled. I believe it's called the _Speedster_, something that should appeal to Master Wally's sense of humor."

Bruce took the envelope. It wasn't what he would usually call a romantic date but this was Wally. Between his love of speed and cars, that would probably be something he was interested in, and there _was_ a new prototype tire for racing cars being showcased as well, and he'd been interested in that for the Batmobile. "Thank you, Alfred. Can you make a reservation at Postiro for that night?"

"Master Bruce, I believe that you would have more success taking Master to one of the local pizza parlors."

He opened his mouth for a moment and then closed it, ignoring his old friend's smirk. "Very well. Ask Tim or Dick if they know of a good one—wait, strike that. I'll take care of the arrangements myself."

"Very good, sir."

Alfred turned and walked away, leaving a bemused Bruce behind. He'd hate to admit it to his old friend, but his change of mind to making the arrangements himself had as much to do with being unwilling to let Dick and Tim know what his intentions were quite yet as making sure everything was just right for Wally.

**Security Clearance**

If he was truthful with himself, Bruce would admit to being apprehensive about what he was about to do. Well, maybe not apprehensive, just...cautious. He'd never done what he was planning before, not even with Selina. This was new territory for him and anyone would be cautious.

Still, after much reflection this seemed to be a natural progression of his and Wally's relationship. Alfred had been making noises as well. And it was true, it was unfair to ask his old friend to let Wally in the Manor or Cave every time he visited. Still, giving Wally the security codes to the Manor was one thing, but giving him the Codes to the Cave...

Still, he trusted Wally. Of anyone outside what Bruce considered his immediate family, Wally was the one he worried the least about letting his power go to his head. There was always that chance that Luthor would push Clark too far, that John would lose his temper. Bruce knew that he himself tread the line a bit too closely at times.

Wally, Wally was different. While some may call some of his uses of speed frivolous, Bruce couldn't help but think it was Wally's way of dealing with his abilities. Instead of making himself into a hero bigger than life or an urban myth, the Flash was Everyman's hero. He actually helped little old ladies across the street and would go to schools and talk to the students. Unlike Superman, however, Flash didn't act as if he was a savior from on high but as a regular person who just happened to run faster than the speed of light.

And unlike his own police force, Flash's city officials worked with him. Bruce couldn't help but find amusement in that. Flash was his total opposite in every way. That was probably their saving grace. Already they'd had a few disagreements: his lack of trust, Wally's flirtatiousness, the fact that Bruce Wayne had no connection at all to Wally West so it wasn't safe to be seen together at public functions. Still, they had managed to work it out.

Now, Bruce sat with a box in his lap. It was the only way he could think of to really show Wally that he trusted him. Inside, he had the security codes to not only the Manor and the Cave but to all of the vehicles, not that Flash needed them.

Not only that but there were communication devices to fit into his suit, specially designed to withstand high speeds. They were set on a frequency that only a select few had access to, what Dick laughingly called the Batfamily Channel. With those, not only would Oracle be able to track him anywhere on the Earth but he'd be able to ask her for information or help. Plus he would know where Bruce was at all times, just as Bruce kept track of Wally. It was the ultimate show of intimacy that Bruce could make.

**Public Appearance**

Bruce took off his sunglasses and stepped into the police garage. He wasn't dressed as Bruce Wayne, playboy, today, or even Batman in disguise. He was simply being himself for once. It was...odd.

Still, it was nice when no one really looked at him. It probably helped that he was in Keystone instead of Gotham. Bruce Wayne was followed by paparazzi, especially since he hadn't gone to quite as many parties of late, even to keep his cover. Everyone was wanting to know why playboy millionaire Bruce Wayne had taken himself off the playing field.

The reason was underneath a police cruiser at the moment. Of course, no one really knew that. Their immediate family did, and a few friends, but most of the League had no idea that he and Wally were involved.

Bruce slowly walked through the garage and the other workers either gave him odd looks or ignored him; he had long ago learned that if you acted like you belonged in a place, not many people would challenge you. Part of him wanted to berate the other mechanics; he could have been trying to sabotage something. He pushed that thought away and concentrated on the pair of long legs sticking out from under the patrol car he was working on.

"Wally."

Bruce openly smirked at the sound of a tool falling onto the concrete as Wally jumped. From the sound of it, he'd hit his head, too. That _had_ to have hurt.

Wally slid out from underneath the car and gave him a glare before looking around. "_Bruce?_"

Bruce's smirk got even wider. "Someone else is coming to take you to lunch, maybe?"

"Lunch?"

Bruce shrugged and tried not to openly laugh at the look on his lover's face. It would ruin his image. "I was in the neighborhood."

Wally seemed to be gaining his powers of speech back. "Do I even want to know how you consider New Jersey to be in the neighborhood of Kansas? And since when have you stopped being paranoid about being seen together?"

The last was spoken in a hushed whisper as Wally stood up and used a rag to wipe the grease off his hands. Bruce shrugged. "I remembered the other day that we have a plausible reason for meeting at that car show in Gotham. You like cars, I like cars, we met there."

"Alfred reminded you, didn't he?"

Bruce raised his eyebrow but ignored the question. "So, do you have time for lunch?"

Ten minutes later they were walking down the street, shoulders brushing. Bruce had found it hard to ignore the catcalling of Wally's co-workers but, as usual, Wally had defused the situation with his trademark humor.

"So, where are we going?"

"I'm staying at the Ritz for the next few days and figured we could have lunch there. "

"Bruce, it would take me two weeks' pay to be able to eat at that place. Not only do they have lobster but they'll take it out of the shell. That's way out of my league. Besides, people will see us..."

"That's the idea. And I asked you to lunch, remember? You're my date."

Wally stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. "Wait...okay, let me get this straight...you'rehereasyouI'mmeaneveryone knowsyou'reTHEBruceWayneandyoushowed  
upatmyworkanddidn'thidethatwekneweachotherandnowyouaretakingmetolunchwhere  
anyonecanseeusandit'llbeinthepaperinthe  
morningandeveryonewillknowthatwe'retogetherIsthatokaywithyouImeanyou'retheparanoidonenotthatIblameyoubut ... people will think we're together."

Bruce took a moment to translate the rapid speech pattern that Wally would use when nervous or excited. "Yes, people will think that we are dating. That's the idea."

"Oh."

There was a moment of uneasiness. They were standing in the middle of the sidewalk, people flowing around them as Wally looked at Bruce. Bruce tried to let go of his mask and actually show what he was feeling and thinking. It must have worked because Wally smiled.

"_Oh!_ That's...wow, that's great!" Bruce could feel Wally start to vibrate, just a little.

Bruce smiled and brushed his hand against his lover's. "Come on, I've got a car around the corner. We can have lunch -- I'm told the Ritz has excellent desserts-- and then see where things go from there."

"Sounds great!" They started walking down the sidewalk again, this time just a bit closer. "Man, if I had realized I would have just told the boss I was taking the afternoon off."

Bruce smiled. "I'm sure if we hurry there will be time for other things beside lunch." This had been a good idea; he was glad Alfred had suggested it.

Not that he would admit it, to Wally or Alfred.

Fini ... for now


End file.
